“a one stop shop where local young people can access all the support they need”

Recently I made my way down to the Peterborough Youth Hub, to see how it is changing the lives of our young people, writes Combined Authority Mayor Paul Bristow.

During my visit, I got to tour the site, meet the manager Dean and also met with some young people who have benefited from the site. And what I took away from the day was that it really has been a success story for our city.

The youth hub works to combine job matching with skills, housing, and mental health support, making the Weston Homes Stadium a one stop shop where local young people can access all the support they need. But words aren’t enough, so I was keen to see how statistically this was impacting our community.

Firstly, Dean was able to show that they have supported 394 young people since they opened in November 2025. This has resulted in 33 youths being placed into full-time work and 40 young people receiving long term mental health support. Alongside this, they have helped countless students into finding a training provider, or a way back into further or higher education.

I spoke with Jess, a young girl who has been supported by Dean and the Youth Hub, and she was able to tell me that after spending time with the support team available, she got herself a job at a brand-new Peterborough restaurant named Hickory’s. Our conversation made me want to visit her new employer but also made me proud to see a real case study of someone who has been positively affected by the work being done at the Youth Hub.

Another notable mention is that over 250 young people have reached out for support since April this year, and I can only imagine this will grow, now that all our young adults have received their school results and will be looking for advice on their next steps. The Youth Hub is there, so I encourage anyone in need to reach out.

None of this would have been doable without our partners, so thank you to the Job Centre Plus, Mind, Cross Keys Homes, Peterborough United Foundation and EFL in the Community for helping make this possible. This collaboration allows us to help as many young people as possible, and that shared goal has contributed towards the achievements of the Youth Hub so far.

All that being said, I can also share that we are now opening a new Youth Hub in Wisbech, as a direct result of the success of the Peterborough site. Fenland has one of the worst educational and skills outcomes in the whole of England, so my Mayoral Authority will establish a new Youth Hub there, to ensure more young people can access the support, skills and opportunities they need to succeed. 

This country has too many young people not in education, employment or training. So, let’s keep up the good work in Peterborough, so many more people from across our region can have access to similar schemes, and can create a better future for themselves.